The device and method herein described and disclosed, relate to countertop cooking devices such as rice cookers and slow cookers and similar electric cooking devices. For the sake of brevity, the terms “slow cooker” or “rice cooker” or “countertop cookers” are employed to describe popular terms for such devices.
However, the use of these terms should not be considered limiting in any fashion as the automatic lowering of heating element temperature to lower the cooking temperature in the cooker, herein disclosed, which is initiated upon sensing a sudden drop in cooking cavity temperature, can be employed with any such electric cooking device and such is anticipated.
Conventional rice cookers, which are functionally similar to slow cookers, have become ever more popular throughout the world. Conventional electric rice cookers and slow cookers have a power switch which also activates an automatic temperature sensing means which monitors the temperature of the inner cooking cavity or pot which is surrounded by a sidewall. This power switch connects an electric heating element to AC power to cook the rice or other food located within the cooking cavity.
In the conventional electric slow cooker or rice cooker, the cooker is turned on by the user using a switching means such as a mechanical or push button switch. Thereafter, heating elements of the cooker are automatically activated only to cause the temperature of the cooking cavity in the pot to rise to a predetermined temperature which is only sufficient for boiling the contents.
In a boiling sequence in conventional cookers, the mixture of rice and liquid within the cooking cavity rises in temperature only to a boiling point, using the heat from the heating element which is activated once the user switches the cooker to an “on” position. During the boiling sequence, the temperature of the cavity conventionally can rise suddenly once all of the liquid in the cooking cavity is exhausted and boiled-off during cooking. If the user cooks properly, a bit more water or liquid must be added to the mix once the rice is boiled. At this point, the cooker is manually switched to cause the heating element to lower the communicated heat, and thus the temperature, in the cooking cavity. It is thus important that the user or chef remember to lower the cooker temperature on manually switched models after adding a bit more water or liquid to the mix, to allow for a simmering period and maintaining the food warmth. A failure to lower heating element temperature and thus the cooking cavity temperature at this point in the process, can cause the rice to either re-boil and become less than tasteful, or to burn once all the water or liquid is exhausted. Similar problems are encountered if the cooker is used for risotto or Spanish rice and in cooking any recipe where an initial high temperature phase is followed by a low temperature simmering or warming phase of cooking.
Conventional countertop cookers configured as rice cookers and the like, generally maintain the cooking temperature in the internal cavity between a simmering temperature and a temperature just above boiling for the first sequence. In a second sequence, the cooking cavity temperature is lowered to just below a boiling temperature to allow for a simmering and a warming of the contents such as rice over a period of time. To avoid overheating or burning the cooking cavity contents, most such cookers simply maintain the upper limit of cooking temperature at just below a boiling point.
However, where meat or fish or fowl is desired as the initial food stock to be added to the resulting rice, such temperature-limited cookers can be very inconvenient. The temperature controls can restrict the temperature below a point where the chef can properly saute or stir-fry or sear the meat or fowl or fish, and cook it in the internal cavity for a combination with the subsequently added rice. This conventional temperature limitation at a low range can also limit the sauteing of rice for risotto or Spanish rice.
In countertop slow cookers, less adapted to rice cooking, which have a heating cavity with sufficient heating elements to reach a saute or frying temperature, this stir frying or sauteing of the first-deposited food can be accomplished. However, once the meat or fish or fowl or rice and oil are cooked by frying to a finished state, the user must remember to lower the cooking temperature for the long duration the device will require to steam, simmer, or slow cook rice with the cooked mixture in the cooking cavity of the cooker. Conventionally, once the meat or fowl or other food has been stir fried or sauteed or otherwise cooked at a necessary high temperature, additional liquid is added by the user to the cooked food in cooking cavity and frequently rice is also added. The mixture of liquid, rice, and the previously high-temperature cooked food is then allowed to simmer to properly cook the rice at the correct temperature and to enhance the taste.
However, to initiate this secondary cooking phase, it is most important for the cook to lower the cooking temperature to a simmering temperature when they finish cooking at high temperatures and when they add water or liquid or a secondary liquid supply such as broth. Because adding a portion of low temperature food and/or liquid to the high temperature mix initially slows the cooking process and the visual cues and sounds related thereto, the user can easily misconceive that all is well. However, there is a high possibility of burning the rice and contents of the cooking cavity during the secondary phase of cooking the mixture if the user assuming temperatures have lowered, walks away or fails to adjust the heating element temperature to yield a simmering phase.
It is this step of adding liquid, such as water or broth, when the sauteing or frying of food is finished, when a simmering phase is desired, where conventional rice cookers fail to adequately serve the user. Inexperienced users, seeing the food contents have ceased high temperature visual and audio cues, or may not read directions if available, may simply not know that it is imperative that the cooking temperature must be immediately lowered in the cooking cavity from the previous high temperature of frying, upon the addition of water or liquid. Even experienced cooks, being busy or distracted or absent minded, may simply forget they must manually lower the temperature radiated by the heating element of the cooker, to lower the cooking temperature in the cooking cavity immediately after they add the liquid to the sauteed rice or meat.
Consequently, it is a frequent and vexing shortcoming of conventional countertop cookers, such as slow cookers, rice cookers and other countertop cookers, which causes users to burn or overcook the food in the cooking cavity after it has been sauteed at high temperatures. This results in a burning or overcooking frequently because these users fail to lower the temperature of the heating element once the initial high heat cooking is finished. It is a simple but an easily-forgotten manual act for the cook to manually switch the cooker to lower the heat generated by the heating elements to thereby lower the cooking cavity temperature. This switching is conventionally manually-activated by the act of the user pushing a button or digital switch or knob, or the like, thereby causing the counter-top cooker to lower the heating element radiating temperature. This act thereby properly lowers the heat in the cooking cavity to simmering temperature for the duration of a simmering cycle.
Further, because of this common problem of users forgetting to manually change temperatures, many slow cookers, rice cookers, and other countertop cooking devices, have had their high temperature cooking ability eliminated by the manufacturer. While limiting the maximum temperature of slow cookers to boiling or below, prevents the problem of burning the contents at excessively high temperatures, these feature-lacking countertop cooker devices are solely designed to cook for long durations at low temperatures and therefor lack the ability to initially saute a mixture to be later included and blended with rice or other food.
As such, there exists an unmet need for a slow cooker or countertop cooker or other such cooking device, which is employable for cooking rice, risotto, or similar foods in a simmer mode, and which is configured to allow the cooker to reach sufficient temperatures in a high temperature phase to first saute a mixture of food deposited in the cooking cavity during the first high temperature mode. Such a device should however eliminate the risk that the user will forget to manually lower the cooking temperature once they finish their high temperature cooking of the initial food deposited. Such a device should not require or use a timer to effectuate the drop in temperature since cooking times vary widely. Such a device should simply sense when the user is done with high temperature cooking, and automatically switch to the required lower temperature once the mixture therein is finished sauteing and the user adds liquid for longer term simmering. Such a device should initiate this switching of the heating element from the higher temperature to this lower cooking temperature, at the point in time in the cooking process where the user subjectively determines high temperature cooking is done, and additional liquid is added by the user for the simmering period. Such a device, therefor, should alleviate the need for absent minded or uninformed users, to manually switch the cooker to a lower temperature, at the subjective and varying times it will be required, depending on what was cooked first at high temperatures.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the slow cooker or rice cooking device herein in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings nor the steps outlined in the specification. The disclosed rice cooker is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways as those skilled in the art will readily ascertain, once educated in the novel device and method of operation disclosed in this application.
Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting in any manner. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the automatic temperature switching cooker disclosed herein. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.